The top-12 items that could help sell a home faster have been revealed by specialist London boutique real estate agency Rokstone, who have a special Rokstone Home Styling division and service.
The firm’s Home Styling service prepares private residences for sale by enhancing appeal such as introducing accessories such as artwork, candles and books, as well as de-cluttering or tidying messy living areas and dressing windows and bedrooms.
Rokstone highlighted that home styling originated in California in the late 1990s whereby the luxury mansions, villas and apartments of the A-list business elite and celebrities of Beverly Hills, Bel-Air and Santa Monica were given a meticulous presentation review and, where required, an “image makeover” before being placed on the housing market.
Glamorised by reality television shows the concept went mainstream and has spread across the United States.
Research by the U.S. National Association of Realtors calculates that professional home styling can reduce a residential property’s time on the market by 25 percent to 50 percent, and a dressed and styled home can fetch a price premium of between 5 percent to 20 percent more than an empty home or messy property badly presented.
Rokstone revealed that home styling is becoming more popular in Prime Central London. Four years ago just 5 percent of the firm’s clients used the home styling service. Last year this had risen to 20 percent, and this year more than 30 percent of clients use the service.
By reviewing all the home styling projects undertaken over the last four years, Rokstone Home Styling has devised a list of the top-12 most successful items that could help sell a home faster:
Books
Luxury coffee table books (Taschen being the top brand) displayed on coffee tables, side tables, bedside cabinets and shelves.
Candles
Beautiful scented candles displayed throughout a home, most importantly in the living area, master bedroom and master bathroom. The top-five most popular brands with purchasers are: Cire Trudon, Fornasetti, Diptyque, Hotel Costes and Jo Loves.
Lighting
An analysis of the levels of natural illumination in the various living spaces. Homes should have a bright and airy ambience but not be so bright they appear like a hospital operating theatre. So changes can include the introduction of side table lamps, the introduction of stronger or lower wattage bulbs or the use of filters on lights; the changing of lamp shades or the removal of curtains or blinds to make a room/living space brighter and more welcoming.
Artwork
Rokstone Home Styling work with Atlas Galleries who visit a property and curate pieces of artwork for the living spaces. The artwork can either be loaned or purchased by the vendor.
Photography/prints
These can be photographs/prints on either walls or side tables. Ideally photos/prints should be de-personalised and family/personal photos minimised and replaced with more generic photos. There should ideally be generic/themed photo frames used throughout a property to ensure consistency of presentation.
Curtains/blinds
Window dressing should be high quality, with the curtains/blinds of a simple chic style that has wide appeal. Garish colours or patterns should ideally be replaced.
Plants and flowers
Flowers can be used to add colour and warmth to a room whilst box hedging and indoor plants or bonsai trees can be used to create a feature within a living space. Rokstone work with By Appointment Only Design who are a specialist florist who provide luxury arrangements for VIP homes, special events and anniversaries.
Magazines and Newspapers
Glossy luxury magazines, broadsheet weekly and weekend newspapers and specialist publications should be used wherever possible. They should be neatly displayed on either a coffee table or side table and updated on a weekly basis. Outdated publications creates a poor impression and makes a property look unloved. Tabloid newspapers, free-sheets and freebie magazines should be avoided as they do not present the right image for a prestigious home.
Accessories
The top-five most popular brands are: Louis Vuitton (espcially the Dominoes), Hermes (throws), Missoni (cushions), Thomas Goode (dinnerware) and Halcyon Days (ashtrays).
Flooring
Like shoes, floors make a very strong first impression on people. Feature rugs, good quality carpets or luxury hard flooring is very important. Frayed carpets or rugs or damaged/old hard flooring should be replaced.
Master bedroom and bathroom presentation
The presentation of the master bedroom suite and master bathroom is crucial for successfully promoting a home to a potential purchaser. The owners of a home will spend most of their time in the main living room, kitchen/dining and main bedroom – so these spaces must be beautifully presented. Rokstone Home Styling highlight that the bed should be dressed with beautiful Nile cotton sheets and pillows and have feature throws from brands such as Jonathan Adler or Hermes. The bathroom should be dressed with high quality white fluffy towels, flowers, scents and beauty products from brands such as Chanel or Bvlgari and luxury soap from a brand such as Aesop.
Music and video
It is very important that there is an agreed playlist for both video and music for the home entertainment system of a property. The music and chosen film/video should have broad appeal, with the volume set low so as not to be overbearing for visitors.
So if a buyer wanted these top-12 selling tips implemented professionally in their home how does the Home Styling service work?
The Rokstone Home Styling service normally takes between one and two weeks from the initial appointment to completion. The first step is a Home Consultation and recommendations visit by the home styling team. This involves the property being assessed for its presentation quality, target buyer profile and appeal to potential purchasers. From this a list of recommendations is prepared for the vendor and once approved the changes are implemented.
Typically anything from 30 to 100 new accessory items are specially sourced and placed in the property, with the budget normally being between 0.25 percent to 1 percent of the overall value of the property. Once the home styling is complete a photoshoot and glamorous sales brochure/particulars are prepared for the property and it is then introduced to the market.
As part of the Home Styling process there are set procedures in place for all potential purchaser visits. There is a special home clean and inspection prior to the visit. This includes checking that all windows, taps and toilets work, and that all lights and home entertainment systems are operational. All flowers, candles and magazines/newspapers are also checked to ensure they are fresh/up-to-date.
Rokstone said that home styling delivers results and works highly effectively on any type of property that needs promotion. The smallest project Rokstone Home Styling have worked on is a 400 sq ft studio apartment in Marylebone, the largest a 6,000 sq ft Mayfair house.
The firm were asked to Home Style a Mayfair house that had been languishing on the market with other agents for over a year. Once Home Styled the transformed property was sold within four months. Similarly, another Mayfair property had been on the market for 14 months, once Home Styled an offer was made on the property within three months.
Becky Fatemi, Managing Director of Rokstone, said: “Home styling is extremely important in the American luxury property market. Most of our celebrity and VIP clients who have lived or worked in North America totally understand and appreciate the value that Home Styling can add to the sales and marketing equation.
“We did some staging for global celebrity P.Diddy for a palace he was using in Marrakesh. We had to fly over 400 accessory items to personalise and dress the palace for him including the finest Egyptian cotton sheets and pillows, Diptyque Baies scented candles and white orchids.”
She added: “The styling concept started in California in the 1990s with Hollywood celebrities staging their VIP rooms, guest suites and private homes for photoshoots and media interviews.
“During the global recession the concept was used as a useful sales tool in the luxury housing market in California and then moved into mainstream property marketing across the United States. London is just beginning to catch up with the concept and appreciate how important it is, especially for luxury homes. As in America where VIPs and tastemakers lead the mainstream will follow.”
